The parliamentary arm of the 47-nation Council of Europe, promoting democracy and human rights across the continent, stripped Russia of voting rights following events in Ukraine last year

PARIS, June 24. /TASS/. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe confirmed on Wednesday it would keep in place all sanctions against the Russian delegation decided in January.

In a resolution, adopted after heated debates at the assembly’s summer session in Strasbourg, PACE said it "has decided not to go further and annul the delegation’s credentials at this time, "as a signal of its commitment to an open and constructive dialogue".

The parliamentary arm of the 47-nation Council of Europe, promoting democracy and human rights across the continent, stripped Russia of voting rights following events in Ukraine last year. It suspended both Russia's right to sit on its governing bodies and participation in election observer missions.

Russian delegates left the April 2014 session before its official completion as a gesture of protest and refused to take part in future PACE activities, staying away from the assembly's summer and autumn sessions.

At this year's January session, PACE extended sanctions until April. In response, Moscow severed contact with the group for another year.